The Hole in One?

  Nope, not talking golf here!  Down near the marsh edge there sits what is left to a Longleaf Pine Tree.  This thing was struck by lightning several years ago but since it stands in water at high tide and mud during low, there was no cutting the tree for firewood.  Instead, it became a favorite daytime perch for several birds of prey, a night roosting spot for a large Blue Heron and a full time home to any number of critters.  Everything from flying squirrels to centipedes inhabit the rotting tree but the most obvious residents are the woodpeckers.  The year after the lightning did its damage, a pair of Redheaded Woodpeckers hammered away at the remains of the tree.  Numerous holes were drilled over the next few years making the thing look quite perforated.  Some of these holes house the flying squirrels but each year, the pair of woodpeckers choose a different cavern as their new home.  There, they raise a couple of broods each summer and the juveniles overwinter in the surrounding holes.  Next spring the young head out for new territory and the cycle starts anew.

  I happened to be prowling the hillside between the torrential downpours of the day when I spied the pair of Redheads taking turns popping their heads into one of the holes.  A parent bird would fly to the hole, poke its head in for a few seconds then fly away.  The other bird would then take its spot and do the same.  Aha!  Their first brood of the season had hatched and were demanding food!

  What fun it is to find that the birds are doing well here on the Bayou. What fun it is to see that in an old, dead tree, life returns.  What fun it is to know that one of those holes is the doorway that leads to a happy family.  Sometimes it is best to leave dead trees if they are far enough out of the way that they can do no harm.  Life carries on.....